Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
33160CA
~ 21i2~4
PURIFICATION OF REFRIGERANT
This invention relates to refrigeration. In one aspect it
relates to method and apparatus for eliminating noncondensible gases in
a refrigeration unit. In another aspect it relates to automatic and
accurate control of a purging system for noncondensible gases in a
refrigeration unit.
Back~round of the Invention
It is common practice to use a flammable material such as
propane as the refrigerant in closed loop refrigeration units for
industrial plants where the existing hazard is not heightened by such
use. Substantially pure propane, which is desired for such ~se because
of the adverse effects of contaminants on the efficiency of the closed
loop system, is for many plants prohibitively expensive. Lacking pure
propane as a refrigerant, various noncondensible gases such as air and
lighter hydrocarbon gases are mixed with the refrigerant used in the
refrigeration unit. Although these impurities may traverse the
refrigeration circuit they generally tend to collect at the top of the
21122~ 33160CA
accumulator. The presence of noncondensible gases in a refrigeration
unit reduces the efficiency of the refrigeration since, for example,
their presence necessitates higher condenser pressures with accompanying
increases in power costs, or the the amount of cooling fluid used to
condense the refrigerant. The capacity of the refrigeration unit is
also reduced since the noncondensible gases displace refrigerant vapor
flowing through the refrigeration unit.
To overcome the foregoing described problems purging devices
of various types have been used to remove or purge noncondensible gases
from the refrigeration system. Such purging normally includes a purge
chamber for collecting the noncondensible gases, and devices for
automatically expelling them from the refrigeration system. The gases
which collect in the purge chamber will generally include some
refrigerant vapor. Usually a cooling coil is located within the the
purge chamber and is supplied with a cooling fluid such as water or
refrigerant. This cooling coil operates as a condensing coil to
condense the refrigerant in the purge chamber which is then recirculated
from the purge chamber to the refrigeration unit.
In purge systems of the type described above, if the purge
operates excessively then undesirably high amounts of refrigerant may be
unnecessarily expelled from the refrigeration unit.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to improve the
operation of automatic purge systems used to remove noncondensible gases
from a refrigeration unit.
Another object of this invention is to improve the efficiency
of a refrigeration unit employing an impure refrigerant.
21 i 2 2 0 ~ 33160CA
,.."_
Yet another object of this invention is to effectively achieve
purification of the refrigerant used in a closed loop refrigeration
unit.
Summary of the Invention
In accordance with this invention, the presence of an
undesirable quantity of noncondensible gases in a refrigeration unit is
inferred as a function of both temperature and pressure in the unit by
comparing, in a programmable controller, the actual vapor pressure at a
selected location in the unit where noncondensible gases tend to gather,
to the known vapor pressure of uncontaminated refrigerant at the
temperature actually existing in the selected location. On detecting
the presence of the noncondensible gases the programmable controller
calculates and sends a control output signal to a valve which controls
purging of gases from the refrigeration unit.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, data
describing pressure vs. temperature curves for uncontaminated propane is
stored in the memory of the programmab]e controller. This stored data
is used in conjunction with on-line measurements for temperature and
vapor pressure for operating a purge valve for the refrigeration unit.
The programmable controller essentially continuously compares the
measured pressure of the contaminated refrigerant and the pressure of
the uncontaminated refrigerant stored in the controllers memory. On
detecting a difference between the pressure of the contaminated and
uncontaminated refrigerant that is greater than a desired value, the
programmable controller calculates a control output signal needed to
purge a volume of contaminated vapor from the accumulator that is
2 ~ ~ 2 ~ ~ 4 33160CA
effective for reducing the dlfference between the measured pressure of
contaminated refrigerant and prestored pressure data to a desired value.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent
to those skilled in the art from the following description of the
preferred embodiment and the appended claims and the drawings in which:
Brief Description of the Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a small industrial
refrigeration unit with a purge system which may be operated according
to this invention.
FIG. 2 is a vapor pressure vs. temperature curve for pure
propane for use in accordance with a preferred embodiment this
invention.
FIG. 3 is a simplified computer flow diagram for controlling
the purge system according to this invention.
Description of the Preferred Embodiment
While the present invention is applicable to purge systems for
refrigeration units employing a variety of fluids that can serve as
refrigerants such as propane, fluorinated hydrocarbons ~FREON Registered
TM-12 and FREON Registered TM-22), ammonia, methyl chloride, etc., the
following description will be confined to the use of propane as the
refriger~n-t.
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is a schematic illustration of
a small industr;~l refrigeration unit with a purge system that may be
operated according to the present invention. It will be recognized by
those skilled in the art that since FIG. 1 is schematic only many items
of equipment that would be needed in a commercial plant for successful
operation have been omitted for the sake of clarity. Such items of
equipment might include, for example, compressor controls, flow and
A
33160CA
~1~2204
level measurements and corresponding controllers, additional temperature
and pressure controls, pumps, motors, filters, additional heat
exchangers, and valves, etc., and all of these items would be provided
in accordance with standard engineering practice.
Referring still to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a typical
vapor compression refrigeration unit wherein refrigerant is compressed
by a compressor 10 and discharged into a condenser 12 via conduit 14.
The condenser lZ discharges liquid refrigerant to an accumulator 16 via
conduit 18. From accumulator 16 liquid refrigerant is discharged to a
control valve 20 via conduit 22, which supplies refrigerant through
conduit 24 to evaporator 26 of the refrigeration unit. Liquid
refrigerant in the evaporator 26 is vaporized by the heat of a process
fluid such as a hydrocarbon feed stream in a natural gas processing
plant flowing through heat transfer conduits 25 in evaporator 26. A
cooled hydrocarbon stream exits the evaporator via conduit 27.
Evaporated refrigerant from the evaporator 26 is discharged through
conduit 28 to the suction side of compressor 10 where the refrigerant
begins another refrigeration cycle.
Various noncondensible gases, which may be present in the
propane charged to the refrigeration unit or otherwise enter the system
through leaks, normally will accumulate in the upper portion of the
accumulator 16. To purge the system without loosing an excessive amount
of refrigerant, it is necessary to separate the noncondensible gases
from the refrigerant. A purge chamber 30 is provided for this purpose.
The chamber 30 is connected to the accumulator 16 by a conduit 32 for
extracting a gaseous mixture from the accumulator 16 and conveying it to
the purge chamber 30. This gaseous mixture entering the purge chamber
21122~3~ 33160CA
30 will normally be a mixture of noncondensible gases primarily
including air and methane, refrigerant vapor and possibly water vapor.
A condensing coil 34 is located in the purge chamber 30.
Fluid being discharged from the purge chamber 30 is expanded across
control valve 36 located in conduit 38 so as to condense the refrigerate
vapor which is contained to the purge chamber 30. Alternately, the
condensing coil 34 may receive cool fluid from any of a variety of
sources to condense the refrigerant vapor in the purge chamber 30 such
as from an external water supply, or from a separate refrigeration unit.
The refrigeration unit described to this point in the
description of the preferred embodiment is conventional. It is the
purge control applied to the refrigeration unit that provides the novel
feature of this invention.
According to this invention, the presence of noncondensible
gases in the refrigeration unit is inferred from vapor pressure and
temperature measurements from the accumulator. Signals representative
of the vapor pressure and temperature of the accumulator are input from
measuring devices into a programmable controller which computes the
control outputs needed to purge an effective amount of gases from the
accumulator.
Referring still to FIG. 1, temperature transducer 40, in
combination with a sensing device such as a resistance thermometry
device (RTD~ operably located in accumulator 16, establishes an output
signal 42 which is representative of the actual temperature in
accumulator 16. Signal 42 is provided as a process variable input to
programmable controller 50.
33160CA
7 21122~
Pressure transducer 44 which is operably located in
accumulator 16, provides an output signal 46 which is representative of
the actual vapor pressure in accumulator 16. Signal 46 is provided as a
process variable signal to programmable controller 50.
In response to signals 42 and 46, the programmable controller
50 establishes an output signal 48, which is a function of both the
temperature and vapor pressure in the accumulator 16 as will be more
fully explained hereinafter. Signal 48 is provided to control valve 36,
and control valve 36 is manipulated in response thereto.
Signal 48 is scaled so as to be representative of the position
of control valve 36 required to eliminate a sufficient volume of
noncondensible gases from the accumulator 16 so that the difference
between the actual pressure in accumulator 16 and the pressure of
uncontaminated propane at the actual temperature existing in the
accumulator is less than some desired value.
A specific control system configuration is set forth in FIG. 1
for the sake of illustration. However, the invention extends to
different types of control system configurations which accomplish the
purpose of the invention. Lines designated as signal lines in the
drawing can be electrical or pneumatic in this preferred embodiment.
This invention is also applicable to mechanical, hydraulic or
other signal means for transmitting information. In almost all control
systems some combination of electrical, mechanical or hydraulic signals
will be used. However, use of any other type of signal transmission
compatible with the process and equipment in use is within the scope of
this invention.
33160CA
8 2112'~
._
The scaling of an output signal by a controller is well known
in control system art. Essentially the output of a controller may be
scaled to represent any given range of values by multiplication,
division, addition or subtraction. An example would be converting a
measurement of pressure at a variable temperature to specify pressure at
a reference temperature. The first step is to model the process from
known data, i.e. to determine how pressure varies with temperature.
Then the controller must be scaled so that no compensation is applied at
the reference temperature. In the case of addition or subtraction the
compensating term is zero at the reference conditions, and when
multiplying or dividing is required, the compensating term is 1 at
reference conditions. If the controller output can range from zero to
ten volts, then the output signal could be scaled so that an output
signal having a voltage level of five volts corresponds to fifty
percent, some specific pressure or some specific temperature.
The various transducing means used to measure parameters which
characterize the process and the var;ous signals generated thereby may
take a variety of forms or formats. For example, the control elements
of the system can be implemented using electrical analog, digital
electronic, pneumatic, hydraulic, mechanical or other similar types of
equipment or combinations of one or more such equipment types. While
the presently preferred embodiment of the invention preferably utilizes
a combination of pneumatic final control elements in conjunction with
electrical analog signal handling and translation apparatus, the
apparatus and method of the invention can be implemented using a variety
of specific equipment available to and understood by those skilled in
the process control art. Likewise, the format of the various signals
33160CA
9 21122~
can be modified substantially in order that they accommodate the signal
format requirements of the particular installation, safety factors, the
physical characteristics of the measuring of control instruments and
other similar factors. For example, a raw flow measurement signal
produced by a differential pressure orifice flow meter would ordinarily
exhibit a generally proportional relationship to the square of the
actual flow rate. Other measuring instruments might produce a signal
which is proportional to the measured parameter, and still other
transducing means may produce a signa] which bears a more complicated,
but known, relationship to the measured parameter. Regardless of the
signal format or the exact relationship of the signal to the parameter
which it represents, each signal representative of a measured process
parameter or representative of a desired process value will bear a
relationship to the measured parameter or desired value which permits
designation of a specific measured or desired value by a specific signal
value. A signal which is representative of a process measurement or
desired process value is therefore one from which the information
regarding the measured or desired value can be readily retrieved
regardless of the exact mathematical relationship between the signal
units and the measured or desired process units.
In Fig. 2 there is illustrated the temperature/pressure
characteristics of uncontaminated propane, and this data is prestored in
the programmable controller 50 for use in the present invention. As
used herein a programmable controller is a digitally operating
electronic apparatus which operates in a real time environment and uses
a programmable memory for storing data, as well as storing internal
instructions for implementing specific functions such as arithmetic,
33160CA
lo 2~2~Q~
logic, timing, sequencing, comparing, proportional-integral control,
etc., and controls various types of machines or processes through analog
or digital input/output modules.
Any programmable controller having software that accommodates
piecewise linerization of specific data points is suitable for use in
this invention. A satisfactory programmable controller is a Taylor
MOD30~ type 1701R controller XL.
For controlling the purging system in the present invention,
it is only necessary to provide the computer with the necessary data as
exemplified by the plotted data points in FIG. 2, and to program the
computer with a routine for manipulating control valve 36. FIG. 2 shows
a temperature range of from about 50 to 130 degrees F for uncontaminated
propane, it is noted, however, that this range can be extended to other
ranges which might be desired for various other refrigerants.
Referring now to FIG. 3, a flowsheet of a computer routine
which defines a sequence of operations for determining the presence of
noncondensible gases in a refrigeration unit, and then computing a
control signal is illustrated.
The program is rendered operative at a start step 100 and
reads in the required input data in step 102 which includes the actual
accumulator pressure Pi represented by signal 46, and the actual
accumulator temperature Ti represented by signal 42.
Then the program proceeds to step 104 to define an allowable
differential gap called delta (~) between the actual pressure Pi and the
pressure of uncontaminated propane P for the temperature currently
existing in the accumulator. This gap is illustrated in FIG. 2. The
value selected for delta will be generally be based on operator
~ 1 1 2 ~ ~ i 33160CA
experience, since too small a value will result in excessive purging,
and too large a value will adversely affect efficiency of the
refrigeration unit. A typical value which was used in an actual
commercial refrigeration unit is 5 psi.
In step 106 a value for the pressure of pure propane at the
current temperature in the accumulator is determined from the stored
data corresponding to FIG. 2. Next the program calculates a value for
an error between Pi and Ps in step 108. If noncondensible gases are
present in the accumulator it will operate at a higher pressure than
would be predicted by the pressure temperature curve for the
uncontaminated propane.
In discrimination step 110 the program determines if the error
is greater than the differential gap delta, and if so a PID control
signal is calculated in step 112 based on the error calculated in step
108. Most programmable controllers incorporate software for special
data handling features such as PID loops by using a call statement
without programming the entire exercise. All that is required is
supplying desired constants to the programmable controller for use in a
PID control law equation as follows:
S = KlE + K2~Edt + K3(dE/dt)
where: S=control output signal,
E=error,
Kl=proportional tuning constant,
K2=integral tuning constant, and
K3=derivative tuning constant
33160CA
12 21~2~4
.,
The control signal S is provided to an output module in step
114 which sends the control output to the valve 36.
The following example is provided to illustrate the decline of
refrigerant lost in a refrigeration unit where the purge system is
controlled as a function of both temperature and pressure according to
this invention compared to a unit where the purge system is controlled
in response to a singe variable of pressure, or where, as in the most
typical case, the purge is performed manually.
Assuming the control point to be around "~" as shown in FIG.
1, the pressure will vary from 200 to 205 psig. A controller span could
reasonably be expected to be from 150 to 250 psig. The proportional
band would, therefore, be:
P.B. = 250 150 = loo = 5%
Without digital control based on both temperature and
pressure, accuracy and precision of venting will degrade. Optimisti-
cally, no better than 20% proportional band can be maintained in venting
with a conventional pressure controller. Operating around a set point
of 200 psig will, therefore, result in an expected band of 20%:
P.B. = l250 150 5= 20%
A = 20 psig
In the first case, the control point will be maintained within
the 5% proportional band, say at 202.5 psig. In the second case, the
33160CA
13 211~s'~
,,
20% proportional band will cause pressure excursions of 10 psig on
either side of the 202.5 control point. In effect, the purge valve will
be wide open ~maximum controller output) at 212.5 psig, and closed at
192.5 psig (minimum controller output). While the controller will be
venting noncondensibles, as well as propane in the region above 200
psig, only propane will be vented in the region below 200 psig, for in
this region of pressure and temperature (200 psig, 102~F) no
noncondensible exist (FIG. 1). Therefore, in the first case, the purge
valve will begin to open at 200 psig (102~F) and be fully open at 205
psig (102~F). In the second case, the valve will begin to open at 192.5
psig and will be fully open at 212.5 psig. In the first case, a
setpoint of 200 psig will result in zero output to the valve (and no
venting) unless noncondensibles are present so that pressure builds up
in the system. In the second case, a setpoint of 200 psig will result
in an output of 37.5%. This translates to a valve opening of 37.5% for
a valve with linear characteristics. In other words, holding the system
pressure at 202.5 psig with a conventional proportional-only controller
will require a controller output of 37~57O and a throttling valve until
the pressure declines to the setpoint or lower.
Assuming a small valve requirement and equal percentage trim,
an estimate of the venting rates for a 1" valve can be made.
Q = ~520/GT (Cg)(Pl)Sin [(3417/Cl)lQP/P]
where:
Q = Gas flow rate, SCFHR
33160CA
-~ 14 21i22~4
G = Specific gravity = 1.5 for propane
T = 103~F = 563~R
Cg = 26 = Gas sizing coefficient from valve manufacturer's
catalog
Pl = 202.5 psig
Cl = Cg/Cv = 32
= 202.5 - 75 psig = 127.5 psig (assumes venting to a low
pressure system)
Q = ~520/1.5x563 (26)(202.5~Sin [(3417/32)~127.5/202.9]
Q = 4122 SCFHR
This venting rate could easily result in the loss of 5% of the
system charge in one hour, and would lower the system pressure to about
192 psig. The purge valve would be closed at this pressure. This rate
obviously cannot be tolerated and the historical solution has been to
manually vent vapor. Should a conventional pressure-purge system be
used, the system would of necessity require a higher controller
setpoint, resulting in higher system pressure and retention of more
noncondensible gases.
Specific control components used in the practice of this
invention as illustrated in FIG. 1 such as temperature transducer 40,
pressure transducer 44, control valve 36 and the programmable controller
50 are each well known commercially available control components such as
33160CA
21i2~04
are described in length in Perry's Chemical Engineering Handbook, 6th
Ed., Chapter 22, McGraw-Hill.
While the invention has been described in terms of the
presently preferred embodiment, reasonable variations and modifications
are possible by those skilled in the art and such variations and
modifications are within the scope of the described invention.
